Category Archives: International Experiences

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The days were numbered and my time was ending in Mombasa and I was FINALLY given the go ahead to complete the Marine Environmental Program I’ve been dreaming of doing! To say the least I was rejuvenated. I was first … Continue reading →

1. I’ve taught an entire PE lesson with a small baby in my arms. Did I have to? No, but I couldn’t leave her crying! 2. While prepping my lessons on the staff room floor, a little chick (I’ve ironically … Continue reading →

There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing children who have never swam a full lap in their life be determined to swim four just to fill their schools with textbooks. On November 8th, our Swimathon began in a typical drizzle that … Continue reading →

It wasn’t an unusual morning. The sun was brilliant by six am, my bedroom was beginning to bake in the Mombasa heat and my washing was still left forgotten on the line, swaying in the breeze. It was when I … Continue reading →

“Who’s brilliant idea was it to set up a football match at 2 pm, the hottest time of day?” Josh whines, prompting laughs and blame to be passed on to Dan and Pete for the sweaty, exhausting afternoon ahead of … Continue reading →

The bell has rung and after a flurry at the door you’re left with an almost empty classroom. There are a few scragglers (as always) still trying to fill in their planners or stack their chairs so you don’t waste any time; you look around the room and start compiling your mental to-do list that seems to grow and grow but never be ‘to-done.’ Even before you finish making that never-ending list, even the most distracted student finally needs you to sign their planner. You do so, reminding them not to forget their gym strip on Monday– and boom – like a flash they’re out the door.

My advice to you? Go outside.

Walk the playground. Join in on a basketball game. Play hop scotch or jump rope. Ruffle a few tops of heads and talk to the kids out there. They’re the reason you’re here and when you’re Continue reading →

Support our student’s ‘Swimathon for Textbooks’ by donating pledges for every lap they swim! On November 8th 2013, our students will be heading to a local swimming pool and will be swimming the height of Kilimanjaro with the support of pledges from around the world! All the money raised will go towards providing much needed textbooks into our classrooms.

If you and your class want to participate in this fundraising event, please email me at: monikastahlstrom@gmail.com for a fundraising package!

Donations can be made through our ‘Just Giving’ and ‘Charitable Trust’ Pages:

Mutunga (Brian) Kimanthi, head of Nyota Ing’arayo school, had graciously invited me into his home and allowed me to interview him regarding his experience in a Kenyan Prison. I’ve been calling him a jail bird and an aider and abettor but I wanted to know the full story. I wanted to write about it for others to hear a bit about what it’s like trying to do a good thing – run a school educating those less fortunate – and getting imprisoned (even if for a short while) for doing so. He was happy to tell me the story over chapatis and soda.

I was sitting in a cafe just outside the major mall of Mombasa. I trekked out early in the morning to make the time difference and Facetime my family and friends at home. I ended up staying for a lot longer than I anticipated as I got carried away with conversations and those I was having with myself in my writing. I sat beside a window and throughout the day I noticed some changes. The guards were doing more than thorough security checks than when I first walked through this morning. Trunks of cars were being opened and the underbelly of cars were being searched . The pat downs on pedestrians and the metal detector use was different. It wasn’t the usual wave of their detector – hear a beep – and say ‘Asante’ as you walk through. No, now they were really checking what was beeping and what you were carrying. The only thought Continue reading →